UPDATE (8:50 a.m. ET): Good news for anyone who owns LeSean McCoy in a fantasy league or just happens to root for the Buffalo Bills: Your star running back’s hamstring injury shouldn’t cause him to miss any games that count.
McCoy is expected to return in time for Buffalo’s regular-season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, citing a league source. That means McCoy, who suffered the injury in practice Tuesday, should be back gaining yards and racking up fantasy points for you soon.
ORIGINAL STORY: Buffalo Bills fans and fantasy football owners: Hold your breath.
Bills star running back LeSean McCoy limped off the practice field Tuesday night with a hamstring injury and will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
The injury occurred about an hour into a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns during a 7-on-7 period, when McCoy pulled up short near the goal line while running a route.
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Bills head coach Rex Ryan was optimistic after practice, saying trainers told him McCoy’s hamstring is “intact” and not separated from the bone, and that he hopes the MRI reveals it’s just a strain rather than a pull. Ryan declined to put a timetable on McCoy’s injury.
“I really don’t want to go there yet, because let’s get the prelim reports,” Ryan said, via The Associated Press. “Hopefully, this will be something that doesn’t set him back too far.”
Either way, it’s a scary moment for the Bills, who acquired the 27-year-old Pro Bowl running back this offseason with the intent of making him the focal point of their offense. McCoy saw his rushing totals dip nearly 300 yards from 2013 to his last season with the Philadelphia Eagles, and the hope was that he’d return to elite form in Buffalo’s run-first attack.
McCoy’s injury represents yet another setback for the Bills’ running back corps, which already is missing Fred Jackson, Boobie Dixon, Bryce Brown and rookie Karlos Williams because of various ailments. That leaves just two undrafted rookies on the depth chart — Bronson Hill and Ricky Seale — to handle rushing duties for Thursday night’s preseason game against the Browns.
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